Hardware

Being a great band director is a lot of hard work and practice. It takes dedication to get your students to sound great, and it’s not easy getting that organization together in order to put on a show. Band is highly coordinated, and it requires extreme discipline, especially when travelling around the country. Here are some best practices to keep in mind.

Portable Equipment

You’ll be doing some travel, and your school might have assigned you a vehicle or a budget for this purpose. Make sure the equipment you have to cart around is portable, and fits neatly where it needs to go. Include at least one bag for each student in your ensemble. Portable equipment, like a Bogen amplifier, is essential when you have to travel across state lines, or even just a few miles. It also helps make unloading a breeze.

Set Goals

Set specific goals that measure up to the talent you have to deal with. Make sure that you have some challenges along the way so students stay motivated, but managing expectations and placing the right goals can be important for growth. Not everyone can compete at the top level, but but many can be pushed to persevere and do their best.

Remember the Kids

Being a band director is a rewarding job because you get to spend time doing the music you love with the kids you care about. Try and keep that in mind as you travel to various competitions, and let the stressors roll off of you.

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So the time has come, and you want to buy some network attached storage (NAS). The question is how do you decide what you need in a NAS? Here are some basic criteria you can use to decide:

Storage

The most important factor is the amount of storage you need. This alone will determine the kind of device. The more storage you need, the larger the device. With modern 6TB drives, an 8-bay NAS will hold 40TB of data and can handle a single drive failure. The budget will also play a part since the larger drives are quite expensive.

Redundancy

The safety of that data also plays a part in the decision. A RAID 5 array can handle the failure of a single drive. You can increase this by committing more drives to the pool, but that reduces the amount of storage. Also, you can add spare drives that only activate when another drive fails. Once a drive fails, it will need a replacement quickly.

Backup

A higher-end NAS is a mini computer and can run applications. These applications are specific to the device and come from the vendor. These devices can run the backup software and use cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox as targets.

Network Speed

There are usually three options when it comes to network speed. There are 100mbit ports, Gigabit ports and an aggregation of several of the same ports. If there are a lot of people accessing large amounts of data from the same device, then invest in a device with multiple gigabit ports.

APUs are being used in a dysfunctional fashion, and the environment is being ignored.

The use of Auxiliary Power Units (APU) in airports is becoming excessive, environmentally harming, and costly. Furthermore, the amount of time that the plane’s jet engines are idling is adding more fuel to the fire. The push to replace the use of these APUs for ground power units (GPU) instead could effectively improve a variety of areas.

Breaking Down the Issue with APUs

The APU is designed to perform three essential functions: starting the airplane’s main engines, providing adequate power to the plane when the main engines aren’t running, and providing compressed air to the plane’s air conditioning unit. Now, if you break it down, the ground power and air conditioning unit can be easily replaced by the use of electrical equipment, which in turn will reduce emission levels. Now, this isn’t the only concern that many airports are facing today. There are also numerous issues that revolve around economics, ramp congestion, and fuel savings. There are problems that a ground power unit can fix, if utilized in conjunction with an APU correctly.

Understanding Ground Power Units

These ground power units come in a variety of electrical power levels. For instance, many smaller airports have 28 volt power supplies attached to a cart that drives out to the airplane when it is taxied. However, due to financial constraints, the push to switch to electrical power has left many ground power units operating solely on diesel. This just adds to the environmental issues that airports are currently facing.

Now, let’s move on to the problems created by APUs. The overall issue of emissions at airports are becoming a serious concern all across the country. And, APUs are playing a significant role in adding to this problem. APU usage generates three sources of emission: carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxide. Consider the amount of flights that go on in one day – that’s one huge cluster of gas being pumped out every second. You can see why red flags are being raised all over the place.

The solution itself isn’t an easy one. There are numerous factors and limitations that must be considered. However, with the right push, and funding, there could potentially be a substantial change coming in the future. These current problems can be fixed, and hopefully there will be significant changes with the development of new technologies.

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Almost every aircraft type requires some type of electrical energy to operate their navigation, lights, COM and NAV radio’s, intercom, and other electronic frameworks. Now, this electrical system is comprised of a batter and an alternator or generater on older aircraft. All of this is connected through meters (or kilometers on larger aircraft) of wire.

Know Your Electrical System

Even for the experienced pilot, it pays to have some fundamental information of the electrical frameworks of his or her air ship, which could be a life saver if an emergency were to occur.

Automobiles and your normal homebuilt aircraft typically runs on a 12 volt electrical system where the battery, alternator and electrical gear is intended for these voltages. In any case, other, generally larger aircrafts, have 28 volt power supplies in their frameworks.

12 Volt or 28 Volt?

The system that you will choose for your aircraft doesn’t really matter. Either the 12- or 28 volt battery pack will run reliably and operate all the equipment within the aircraft. So, at first glance, there really isn’t too much of a difference in deciding which system to utilize.

Likewise, most producers have hardware that can run on either voltage or are selectable – this is not by any stretch an issue. Be that as it may, if you wish to utilize your automobile to kick off your airplane, this necessity may guide you towards a 12 volt framework. In the case you require less weight and more cranking power for starting the engine, consider using a 24- or 28 volt ground power unit.

Of all the aircraft maintenance equipment that are currently being used in aviation fields around the country, one of the most underrated tools are portable power supply units. For one, they provide an aircraft with an optimal source of electricity that thoroughly powers the entire unit in little time. Small planes and even larger planes run on electricity to power their onboard equipment as well as all the other features within the unit itself.

Important Aspects to Look Out For

A portable power supply unit can either be a standalone generator or be hooked together to multiple lines that connect to a central hub – typically in airports and larger air fields. For both convenience an efficiency purposes, the power supply units are stored in mass quantities and are an integral part of the air field itself. If you’ve wondered what those carts are pulling that have electrical hoses that stick out of them do, those are the power units that the airports use for the incoming planes.

Typically, when planes taxi in, the maintenance crew immediately runs over to tend to the aircraft. This means, refueling, cleaning, repairing, etc. Now, once the plane is parked, the power supply unit can do its part by supplying a constant stream of electricity without having to keep the plane on. This allows there to be lights and electrical access running straight from the power supply units.

Underrated Overachievers

In smaller airfields, an airplane starting unit can be used to provide a jumpstart to small planes and aircrafts. This is important, as these planes require a significant amount of power to maintain flight. Now, most people will talk about how fuel is the number one factor when it comes to airplanes – next to onboard flight systems. However, without power, much of the features of a plane wouldn’t be possible. For instance, the control panels and the all the board switches wouldn’t have any way of controlling the plane. They continue to be an underrated unit within the airplane industry. However, with new technology coming in, there are more advanced starting units being created that serve more purposes than just providing a single spark of electricity. With that being said, there is a lot to look forward to when it comes to the future of portable power units.